This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Blog Day :

3700

Post No. :

14620

HFM Songs Statistics by Year – 5
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Year 1936
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Aha, the delay in posting caught the celebration. Today we are onto the 3700th day of this blog’s existence. Just having crossed the ten year mark recently, here is one more celebration today – 37th century of number of days of this blog. Congratulations and congratulations to all. 🙂

Coming back to this series after a haitus of, oh my goodness, almost three years. I can’t believe that the last episode of this series was published way back on 25th November, 2015. Wo. . .

OK, getting back into gear again. The year in 1936. It has been five years since the films found their voice. And twenty five years since the moving pictures made their first entry into India. Ah yes, 1936 – we are now on to the silver jubilee year of motion pictures in India.

These were the heady and formative years of the talkie cinema in India. After cautious and suspicious view of the fate of the Hindi film songs in their first two years, i.e. 1931 and 1932, the film producers started to take initiative and ventured out to start recording more and more songs on gramophone records. The propensity of the viewing public to appreciate the film music enough, to start singing these songs in real life, and also an expressed demand to listen to these songs once again – these two factors led the producers to start delivering the film song on gramophone records. Of course, the additional revenue stream was a prime attraction for them. But as a result, what got initiated is an inadvertent effort to preserve this music. The numbers may not have been much, but it was a great beginning. 1934 and 1935 saw more and more of film songs getting published on shellac records.

This had a significant transformative impact on the Hindi film music. The industry was coming to realize the importance and the impact of the film song and music. And hence, we progressively see a greater effort being devoted to the music and song department. In the mid 1930s, we see two very significant directions in which the music progressed. The first was the simplification of the music itself. Coming in from the theatre mode and into the cinema, the music was very strongly rooted in the classical mold. However, as we see the rise of the Hindi film song, and its popularity amongst the viewing, and also, listening public, we see a basic transformation in the music itself – a move towards simplifying the music, and making it more accessible to as well as acceptable by the general public. Music started being recognized as something not just to be listened to and appreciated in ‘mehfils’ and ‘gaayans’ by a select coterie of connoisseurs. That the music would be popular with and will be appreciated by the general public, was a recognition with the coming of the Hindi film song. And so, the composers and music directors started to simplify the music such that it would make inroads into the hearts of the general public, and on to the lips from the hearts.

In many film and music reviews that we read from yesteryears, we find a phrase or its variation – “फलां फिल्म के गाने गली गली में सुने जाने लगे” – “the songs of such-and-such film could be heard in every street and alley”. That, I think, is the success of the composers to bring the music from its pure classical plane to a level where it would appeal to the person on the road. No, I am not at all saying that the music was made pedestrian. It was actually a very qualitative change in creating this music. It became what was later to be termed as ‘सुगम संगीत’- music for easy listening. And of course, it won a million hearts, and continues to capture the fancy of oncoming generations. Just the fact that the music from those decades still has an attraction to hold a person’s interest and appreciation – tells us volumes about the effort the song creators put into this endeavor, to ensure that the listening public would be smitten. And smitten we are – even to this day and this era.

The second aspect was a dictate of the technology. The accepted standard of the 78 rpm record could hold approximated three and a half minutes of recording. As more and more producers and production houses made decisions to release their music on records, this duration (or in some cases, its multiple) became an accepted length of the film song. And so, the challenge that the song creators had was to express what had to be expressed, convey what had to be conveyed, and meet a standard of longevity and retention in memory in just three and a half minutes. And the measure of their success – I am sure beyond their own wildest dreams – is that their creations continue to be loved and revered even after close to a century later. They were the wizards that created this lasting magic settled into the hearts of innumerable listeners.

The era of the song artists – song writers, composers and singers – getting established as institutions, was still some years off. But we do see the rise of the singer-actor icon – KL Saigal, who had already made his singing debut back in 1932. ‘Devdas’ had already happened in the previous year (1935). That iconic film once and forever transformed the image of the romantic hero, that lasts to this day. And it was the first film of its kind in which the music and songs played such a significant role in a romantic relationship. Still continuing to work at New Theatres in Calcutta (now Kolkata), the star of Saigal was rising as the first song artist being recognized as an institution.

The voice of Saigal Sb appeared in two movies this year – ‘Pujaarin’ (MD – Timir Baran) and ‘Krorepati’ (MD – Pankaj Mullick), both from New Theatres. Besides these two, New Theatres had two more releases – ‘Manzil’ and ‘Maaya’ (MDs – Pankaj Mullick and RC Boral).

Bombay Talkies released the iconic ‘Achoot Kanya’ with music by Saraswati Devi. The song “Main Ban Ki Chidiya. . .” was that type of song that was heard in “गली गली”. But wait, before we talk about this film, we must talk about another film (released somewhat earlier in the year, also by Bombay Talkie) – ‘Jeevan Naiya’. This latter film was the debut film of an unwilling actor – Ashok Kumar. Working as a lab technician in Bombay Talkies, this young man was forced into acting roles, but then he took to this career like fish to water. And he sang – in his debut film – a song to be remembered forever – “Koi Humdum Na Raha, Koi Sahaara Na Raha”. And very interestingly, the later to be renowned SN Tripathi, made his debut as a singer in this film under the baton of Saraswati Devi.

V Shantaram and Prabhat Studios released ‘Amar Jyoti’ this year. A film that told the story of Saudamini, a female pirate captain – was decades ahead of its times, in the manner in which it dealt with the subject matter and the technological aspects. The film represented India at the Venice Film Festival that year. Prabaht and V Shantaram released another film this year, which added a new term to the Indian cinematic reporting – ‘golden jubilee’. ‘Sant Tukaram’ goes on record as the first Indian film to play continuously for more than 50 weeks. The popularity of this film is legendary. There are stories about people and groups of people who would travel tens or hundreds of miles from their villages, sometimes on foot, to go see this film in the nearest town with a cinema. It is reported that ordinary people would say prayers and offer flowers to the posters of this film depicting Vishnupant Pagnis in the title role. Also sent to the Venice Film Festival, this film was applauded as one the best three films of the year, at the festival.

Singer actor Surendra Nath made his debut this year in the film ‘Deccan Queen’. His rendition of “Yaad Na Kar Dil e Hajeen Bhooli Hui Kahaaniyaan…” is a song that has lasted in history. Music directors Dhamman Khan, SN Tripathi and Ashok Ghosh made their entry into film music direction this year.

This was a time when the literary writers started gravitating towards cinema. Scholarly and established poets and authors like Zia Sarhadi, Asghar Husain ‘Shor’, Aarzoo Lakhnawi made their debuts in songwriting in Hindi films. Jaddanbai, who had made her debut as a music director in the previous year (1935) made her entry in the realm of song writing, when she penned the songs for ‘Madam Fashion’ this year.

Other important films of this year are

‘Sunehra Sansaar’ from East India Company, directed by Debaki Bose

‘Deccan Queen’ and ‘Manmohan’ from Sagar Movietone, both directed by Mehboob

‘Maa’, produced and directed by Prafulla Ghosh; the song “Vande Maatram” appeared for the first time in cinema

‘Gareeb Parwar’ or ‘Daya Ki Devi’ was finally allowed to be released this year. Originally made as ‘The Mill’ in 1934 by Ajanta Movietone, Bombay, this film was banned for public release by the British govt, as it was critical of the foreign rule under strong pressure from the powerful Mill Owners Association. This is one the first film that is based on a literary work by the famous Hindi author, Munshi Premchand.
[Ed Note: The above corrections are based on inputs from dear Arun ji. Please see the comments below.]

A very interesting aside related to music. Wadia Movietone started a very refreshing endeavour. They started making short films on the famous and important classical music stalwarts. These films were shown without any extra charge, prior to the main feature. In that age and time, this was a great service that was rendered by the house of Wadia, both towards cinema and classical music.

Other snippets, ‘Seeta Vivaah’ was released as the first film in Oriya. The film ‘Shokh Dilruba’ gained a dubious distinction – with 150 kissing scenes. And IMPPA (Indian Motion Picture Producers Association) was established.

Now for some numbers for this year. As per the Geet Kosh, number of Hindi films that were censored and released is 134. From the available data and song lists, a total of 1,212 songs were created for these films. Once again, as per the information available in Geet Kosh, 136 songs from 34 of these films have been traced as having been published on gramophone records.

Achhoot Kanya

Amar Jyoti

Amar Prem

Baaghi Sipahi

Bhakt Cheta

Chhaaya

Deccan Queen

Do Deewaane

Faulaadi Mukka

Gol Nishan

Jai Bharat

Janambhoomi

Jeevan Lata

Jeevan Naiya

Khyber Pass

Krorepati

Lagna Bandhan

Maa

Maa Ki Mamta

Maaya

Manmohan

Manzil

Miss Frontier Mail

Naseeb Ka Chakkar

Pahaadi Kanya

Piya Ki Jogan

Prem Ki Aag

Pujaarin

Rajput Ramani

Romantic India

Snehlata

Sunehra Sansaar

Tope Ka Gola

Village Girl

In addition to the above films, based on information exchanged between the circle of collectors of this music, we have songs available from 9 more films. These are,

Kimiagar

Sipahsalaar

Struggle

Aakhri Galti

Aseer e Hawas

Bandits of the Air

Gunehgaar

Laylo Nihaar

Noor e Wahdut

The song being presented with this post is from the 1936 film ‘Bandit Of The Air’ aka ‘Hawaai Daaku’.

This film has an important distinction – that it is the only one film of actor KN Singh, in which he appeared as the hero opposite to Ram Pyaari. On 1st September, just three days ago, was the birth anniversary of this ‘baddie’ cum character actor in Hindi films, with a long innings of over five decades, with more than 250 appearances on the silver screen to his credit.

A top hat, thick and bushy eyebrows – raised in a sinister question, a smoking pipe, and large menacing eyes – a hallmark appearance of this villain that lasted through many decades. His entry into the screen frame always prepared the viewers that someone is going to be bashed, or something evil is going to happen. In an interview, KN Singh recalls the following incident. AR Kardar’s ‘Baaghbaan’ (1938) had been released and KN Singh’s role as a villain had impressed one and all. KN Singh was now working on the sets of a film titled ‘Kaun Kisi Ka’ (1939). Yakub, who was then working with Sagar Movietone and was also a known villain actor, happened to come by to the same studio. Seeing KN Singh, he greeted him as “Hello King”. KN Singh responded to his greeting and said that his name is ‘Singh’ and not ‘King’. Yakub replied, “हम तो तुम्हें किंग ही कहेंगे। हम तो बस यही कहने आए हैं कि हमने अब विलेन का काम करना छोड़ देना है। अब तो गोप के साथ कामेडी किया करेंगे। क्योंकि तुम्हारी तरह हम चल नहीं सकते। तुम्हारे चल के आने में ऐसा लगता है के मुसीबत आ रही है।” (“I will call you as King only. I just came by to say that I am now giving up playing villain roles, and will join Gope and do comedy. Because I can’t even walk like you. When you walk into a scene, it seems as if some calamity is arriving”).

KN Singh was the eldest of five siblings, children of Chandi Prasad Singh, a well known advocate in Dehradun. When he was born on 1st September, 1909, his parents first named him ‘Niranjan’. Then, Chandi Prasad’s guru ji came home to bless the child, and he said – “Krishn has come to your home”. So then the complete name of child became Krishn Niranjan Singh – later to be abbreviated as KN Singh. He studied at La Martenier and Cambridge Schools in Dehradun. His father wanted to send him to London to study law, because he wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. But then a certain event happened that changed the course of life for KN Singh. A murder case came to his father. The accused was a well known rich man of Dehradun. It was a crime of passion, and a lady had been put to death. Chandi Prasad Singh was successful in getting the accused acquitted, by producing some fake train tickets to establish that the accused was not in Dehradun when the crime was committed. This falsification effected KN Singh so much that he prayed his father to relieve him of the promise of becoming a lawyer, because he would never be a party to such lying and deceit. There was a falling out and he left home and Dehradun.

With a friend he travelled to Lahore, and then to Gujranwala. There he setup a cloth printing workshop, that put prints on khadi cloth. The work was good and he soon set up another print workshop in Lahore. Then, in collaboration with another friend, he established a coaching school for students in Roorkee – K&D Tutorial Institute. In 1930, he was asked to return to Dehradun, and his parents got him married. This first marriage did not last long, as his wife unfortunately passed away in 1932. KN Singh stayed on in Dehradun.

In 1935, he went to Calcutta to visit his sister, who had shifted to Calcutta after her marriage. Now, in Dehradun, KN Singh was friends with Nityanand Khanna, a person who turns out to be a cousin of Prithviraj Kapoor. This was the time that Prithviraj was working with New Theatres in Calcutta. So KN Singh met Prithviraj and they became good friends. At Prithviraj’s residence, one day KN Singh happened to meet Debaki Bose. Debaki Bose suggested to him to become an actor. KN Singh, at first, tried to let it go as an exchange in lighter mood. He returned to Dehradun. But that suggestion kept sitting as a worm at the back of his mind. Sure enough, after a short while, he was back in Calcutta. With the help of Prithviraj, Debaki Bose cast him in the role of a doctor in the film ‘Sunehra Sansaar’ (1936). The film journey of KN Singh had started.

Very soon, the word got around the Calcutta film circles about this handsome young man from Dehradun, who could speak Urdu very well. Modern India Talkies were looking for a new face to be the hero in their next venture – ‘Bandit Of The Air’ aka ‘Hawaai Daaku’. With the promise that he would not be required to sing or jump around the trees, KN Singh agreed to take on that role. That film was also released in 1936. Meanwhile New Theatres again offered him a role in their film ‘Anaath Ashram’ (1937). This role was once again a villain’s role. Next came ‘Vidyapati’ and then ‘Milap’, both in 1937. Incidentally, ‘Milap’ was a production from Moti Mahal Theatres in Calcutta, and was produced and directed by AR Kardar himself.

His second marriage happened in 1937. He merrily describes the episode. The shooting for ‘Vidyapati’ was in progress, and he was summoned to Dehradun for getting married. In the midst of the shooting schedule, he asked for a two days reprieve, went home, got married and promptly returned to the studios, as the sets were still in place and some scenes were waiting for his return. With good humor he explains, there is a scene in the film in which he is shown about to enter the royal court of Prithviraj Kapoor. After this scene is shot, he takes leave to go home for his marriage. Then returns after two days and completes the rest of the shot of the royal court. As he explains, just before entering the ‘darbaar’ he is an unmarried person, but in the very next scene as he is inside the ‘darbaar’ and present in front of Prithviraj Kapoor, he is a married man. None in the industry would have had such a swift wedding affair, he laughs.

His presence in the film industry was being noticed seriously. AR Kardar invited him to come over to Bombay, and take on the villain’s role in his upcoming ‘Baagbaan’ (1938). After the release and success of ‘Baagbaan’ – there really was no looking back. The film went on to celebrate a golden jubilee, and KN Singh was typecast as a villain forever.

After KN Singh moved to Bombay in 1938, slowly the exodus started from Calcutta in general, and New Theatres in particular. Majority of the film artists and film music makers also migrated slowly to Bombay. Impacted by the great famine in Bengal, the closing years of the world war II, contributed to a general slowdown of the economy, and the film industry in Calcutta.

After coming to Bombay, KN Singh settled into his career as a villain cum character actor in the Bombay world of cinema. After the golden jubilee success of ‘Baaghbaan’, Ezra Mir cast him in ‘Sitaara’ (1939). Arriving in Bombay, he worked himself into the top bracket of the highest paid character actors in the industry. And with the coming of most of his old friends from Calcutta, he felt quite at home now in his flourishing career.

In Calcutta, while at New Theatres, KN Singh also became very good friends with KL Saigal. In an interview he once refreshed his old memories of the days when most of the cream of Bombay industry used to stay within a 20 to 30 minutes walking distance from each other in Central Bombay. The camaraderie within this group consisting of Prithviraj Kapoor, Shyam, Om Prakash, KN Singh, Bhagwan, Jairaj, Nargis, Kidar Sharma, KL Saigal, Madan Puri, Jagdish Sethi, Manmohan Krishan, PN Arora, Robin Chatterjee, Sitara Devi, Jayant, Anil Biswas, Dronacharya, Manna Dey, Phani Mazumdar, Brijrani, Dwarka Khosla, PN Khanna (these are the names he himself has mentioned in the interview) was of a very fond friendship. There would be frequent get-togethers and picnics, and friends would drop in unannounced, into each other homes, as well as at work in studios. He cites specifically the scene from ‘Awaara’ (1951), which is the final confrontation between Raj Kapoor and KN Singh, and in which the latter dies at the end of the scene. KN Singh is brandishing a knife, and it is supposed to fall out of his hands and come in Raj Kapoor’s possession. While the action steps were being discussed, Bhagwan Dada dropped in unannounced into the studio. Having been a stunt master earlier, he got involved into the discussion, and suggested how the scene should be executed. Raj Kapoor took that suggestion very sportingly and the scene was shot as suggested by Bhagwan Dada.

Another interesting anecdote he tells is about the film ‘Ishaara’ (1943). The lead pair was Prithviraj and Suraiya, and KN Singh was playing the role of the hero’s father. Now Prithviraj was three years elder to KN Singh. So, says KN Singh, that he formally asked for permission from Prithviraj to take on that role, because in this role he would be scolding and berating his elder cast member. The times, yes, they were different in that era.

Close to end of 1946, an ailing KL Saigal left Bombay for the last time, proceeding to his hometown Jalandhar for treatment and recuperation. He was not destined to return. It is significantly noted in many articles and information pieces – there were only two people to see him off a the Bombay station – one was his driver and the second person was KN Singh. The film ‘Parwaana’ (1947) was still under production and both Saigal Sb and KN Singh were working in it. Providentially, KN Singh is the last person of the film industry who would see Saigal Sb alive.

KN Singh’s inning in the film industry lasted well into the early nineties, a great run of more than five and half decades. The last released movie in which he appears is most likely, ‘Ajooba’ from 1991. He has worked with most actors – starting with Mazhar Khan, Prithviraj and KL Saigal, all the way upto Dharmendra, Amitabh, Rajesh Khanna, Jeetendra and Shashi Kapoor. In his later years he was troubled with failing eyesight, and was quite a bit on his own, alone and forgotten. Most of his old friends were gone by then. He passed away on 31st January, 2000.

A gentleman villain, as opposed to the angry gangster boss, his enduring image is that of a white collared villain, dressed in a fine suit and bow tie, smoking a pipe, with a menacing glance and a calm cold delivery. He was a stickler for discipline and punctuality. It is said in the industry that in his later years, like 1970s and 1980s, producers would cast him in cameo roles, just so that other members of the cast would come to the studio on time, knowing that KN Singh is also part of the team.

Time to come to the song – 🙂 . This song is the only song that is traceable in public domain, for the film ‘Bandit Of The Air’ – ‘Hawaai Daku’; the only one film in which KN Singh made an appearance as a hero, on the promise that he will not be required to sing or dance. 🙂

This film was produced under the banner of Modern India Talkies, Calcutta, and was directed by AR Chaudhry. The story of the film was written by AR Chaudhry himself. The star cast listed for this film is Ram Pyari, KN Singh, Mazhar Khan, Hashmat, Manzari, Adhar Singh, Tila Mohammad, OP Sharma, MC Kazi, Faiz Mohammad, Bachu, Poornima, Pratibha, and Master Vilayatu.

For this film, 11 songs are listed in the Geet Kosh. Music director is Motilal Nayak. The names of songwriters and singers are not identified. I request other knowledgeable readers and friends to please add more information about this song and this film.

A rare song that was created more than eight decades ago. It has been uploaded by Shalin Bhatt ji.
Listen and enjoy.

[Ed Note: This rather longish article which has been in preparation for many months now. KN Singh’s birth anniversary drove it to completion. 🙂 I have adapted material from the following sources for this article.

Articles on KN Singh – three print articles provided by dear friend Shri Harish Raghuvanshi ji, from Filmfare, Jansatta, and one more publication.

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6 Responses to "Sona Laane Piya Gaye Soona Kar Gaye Des"

Dear Sudhir ji,
Thanks for a wonderful travel through the 30s to make a suhana sangeet safar. You have really taken lot of efforts to make this article a true representation of the times prevailing then, in the very young Talkie film industry.
As far as the first Parody song is concerned, I reproduce herewith a portion of my own article posted here on 15-3-2015, when I started my ” Parody songs in Hindi films” series.

” The very FIRST Parody song in Hindi films came as early as 1936.It came from a film called ” Sunehara Sansaar”-1936.It was a Parody of a famous patriotic song by Dr.Iqbal-” Saare jahan se achha Hindosta hamara…” The parody song was ‘ Saare jahan se achha saabun bana hamara,hum kishtiyan hai iski…’
The lyricist was Vijay kumar,B.A. and the MD was K C Dey.

When the song was released,instead of becoming popular,it drew the people’s ire for distorting a patriotic song.There was criticism and several protests.
Another MD Master Mohd. (who was wellknown for composing many patriotic songs in those days,in his films) decided to make a Parody of K C Dey’s famous song, ‘Jao jao aye mere sadhu…’ from film Pooran Bhagat-1933, as a retaliation.

He icluded a parody song,same year,in his film ‘ Miss frontier Mail ‘-1936.The lyrics for this song was- gao gao aye mere aye mere sadhu…’.
It was sung by Minu,the Mystique in the film.
This Minu was actually Minoo Cooper,a regular singer in Bombay city Parsi circle.He used to sing in many Hotels in those days.He has also sung few more songs in Hindi films later.

This retaliatory Parody song was well received by the audience and it became popular too.

This song has been posted on this Blog,by our dear SUDHIR ji, on 29th June 2012.,along with a very interesting write up,for which he is known.”

You are very right about the parody songs, and their representation in Hindi films. The song you mention, which spoofed the famous national song by Dr Iqbal Allama – “Saare Jahaan Se Achha”, is a parody of a non film song.

In my article, the sentence I have written is that the song from ‘Miss Frontier Mail’ – “Gaao Gaao Ae Mere Sadhu” is – “Possibly the very first parody song of another film song in Hindi cinema.”

In any case, both these parodies – one of a film song and one of a non film song – appeared in 1936. So I think we are OK.

Munshi Premchand or Dhanpat Rai (31-7-1880 to 8-10-1936) came to Bombay on 31st May 1934 to seek work in Hindi films. He was employed by Mohan Bhavnani, who made a film Mazdoor-34 on his novel of the same name, for his own Ajanta Movietone.
The film was about the third rate conditions of the Mill and other workers of lower category ( and not against the British Raj). The film was banned in Bombay due to the pressures of the powerful Mill Owners Association and other business bodies. The irony was that the workers in the printing press owned by Premchand in Banares revolted after this film was shown in Banares and the press closed down due to non payment of their wages.
The film was resubmitted for Censors as Gharib Pariwar or Daya ki Devi in 1936, with lot of cuts. The film was a flop in any case.

This was not the only film on Premchand’s works.
Sevasadan-38 Tamil film ( on Bazaar ka Huns)
Heera Moti-59
Godaan-63
Shatranj ke khiladi-77
Oka oori katha-77 Telugu (on ‘Kafan’)
Sadgati-81